Bits and Pieces: January

When I was a kid, I actually liked getting pink eye. It was the best! You got to stay home from school and you didn't feel sick at all. Well, now hate is not a strong enough word for how I feel about pink eye. Yes, you guessed it, both kids were infected over the past few weeks. And actually, Christopher did fine with the eye drops. He barely flinched. Clare, on the other hand, acted as though I was sawing off her arm with a dull blade. My mom says it is payback from when I was a kid. Apparently I acted the same way. Conveniently, I don't remember that.

Other than pink eye, January was okay. The first week was spent in Florida, so I can't complain about that. We are now hitting my least favorite part of the year, but I am trying to stay positive. If there is even a hint of sun, or if the temperature is above 15, I am shooing the kids into the backyard. Clare loves the snow. In fact, we were leaving for school a few weeks ago in that frigid cold, and she said "I love winter!" It was negative 10. Christopher is less enthusiastic, but I am hoping he'll like it better next year when he can join Clare at the skating rink. We are going to try sledding next weekend, too. Christopher probably won't like it, but I am going to encourage him to enjoy the outdoors as much as possible.

Clare is still enjoying school. We went to the winter carnival last weekend, and she actually rode on a pony. This is huge for Clare, who normally runs away in terror from any animal, except for our decrepit cat (RIP).  She still challenging me constantly - if I tell her to do something she has a million reasons why she can't or won't. She is so good at getting under my skin that every piece of advice I've received or tips I've read fly right out of my head in the heat of the moment. I am working on it, though. I am trying really hard to ""engage, don't enrage" and "connect and redirect." Yes, I am reading a book about discipline. My take so far: nothing I do works.

It is not all bad, though, and we have a lot of fun together. Clare has been making valentine's for her family and friends, and she is super into it. She is much more crafty than I am. (She is bringing "Frozen" valentine's to school, because of course.) She has officially given up naps. She still does quiet time, but we usually play a few games in the afternoon while Josie and Christopher are sleeping. My favorite is house, because I am the baby and she puts me to bed. I get to lay on the couch with my eyes closed. She gets mad if I open them. Who am I to argue?

Christopher has a huge vocabulary now, and speaks in multi-word sentences. He is very generous and polite, constantly saying thank you. He also likes to hit, so we are working on putting an end to that. While Clare is at school, he sneaks up to her room to play. (She generally forbids him from entering when she is home.) I let him get away with it because I know he is not hurting anything. He loves music. He nods his head to the beat and frequently requests that we have dance parties at home.  He requests several "friends" to accompany him to bed. Currently, he has blankie, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Super Grover, tiger, lamb, fox, baby, doggie, school bus, giraffe, space ship, bear, star light, and I think one or two toys more in bed with him. There is barely room for him.

Over the holidays, Christopher discovered that he loves chocolate. Clare is more of an equal opportunity sweets consumer, but Christopher will choose chocolate every time.

Christopher and I have watched a few football games together over the past month. I like his analysis of the game. "Run around! Fall down! Bonk head!" Yep, that about sums it up.

Pony rides a the winter carnival! Yes, she is wearing her Christmas dress.

Ready to watch the Packers. They lost, but Christopher and Cookie Monster didn't seem to care.

Snow monsters.

We might be going a little stir crazy.